Chapter 11: The Contest Begins

RECAP: Lisanna walked up to Natsu and wrapped her arms around him, but he hadn't even noticed. Lucy's words were stuck in his mind. Remember this, I'm gonna have you beggin' on your knees for me.

The Great Magic Tournament had begun, the first trial for the prelims was a giant maze. The Wolf's Howl team was now running to the finish line in wolf form. They had stolen maps from other teams and made their own. They were sure that other teams were doing the same, so they ran. They ran all the way to the weird pumpkin man. Lucy was sure they at least made the top three. She was shocked to hear that they came in seventh place.

Styxx turned to the rest of the group, giving a small pep talk, "Hey, it's not last place. This means their is still another team below us."

Kunaru smirked and nudged Totomaru with his elbow, "Hey Toto, how much do you wanna bet that Fairy Tail came in last?"

Totomaru smirked as well, "Quiet a bit, because here they come." The fire mage pointed down the pathway. Lucy could make out the figures of her former team. There was Erza, Natsu, Grey, Elfman, and Wendy.

Lucy quickly spun around to face the strange pumpkin man, "Teleport us out of here! Now!"

The pumpkin man obliged, "Okay, pumpkii!"

Suddenly, the Wolf's Howl team began to faintly glow, and then they were gone.

∆POV

Natsu and the rest of the Fairy Tail team arrived at the finish line to find the strange pumpkin man as well. "We made it!" Natsu exclaimed.

Erza smirked, folding her arms and nodding, she said, "I bet we're the very first!"

The pumpkin man replied with a sheepish grin, "Nope, you guys barely made eighth place." Erza's jaw dropped, her arms quickly followed. The rest of the team did the same. "Congratulations on making it through the preliminaries! You may now continue on in the tournament, losers." The pumpkin man whispered that last part.

Natsu had heard the remark, however, thanks to his dragon slayer powers, and yelled at the pumpkin man, "What did you say! You little piece off shi-"

Natsu was cut off as he and the group were teleported to away.

∆POV

The ceremony after the preliminaries was beginning. The announcers were now introducing the teams.

"In eighth place," One of the announcers began, "is Fairy Tail! After their seven year disappearance, how will the group hold up against the rest of the guilds?" The stadium roared with boo's and negative comments.

The announcers continued on to list off the groups, "In seventh place is Wolf's Howl!" The stadium was quiet as the group walked out. "It seems not many people know this guild. That's all right folks, for you see, Wolf's Howl was only recognized as an official guild not even two months ago! To see them here already is shocking indeed."

At the new information, the people in the stadium began to cheer for the underdogs. Shocked as well by their quick uprising. The announcers continued on, naming off the guilds. In sixth was Mermaid Heel, fifth was Blue Pegasus, fourth was Lamia Scale, third was Raven Tail. At his everyone went into an uproar.

How could they let a Dark Guild enter the tournament! Lucy thought.

The announcers explained the meaning of this, "Apparently Raven Tail is a new guild as well. They were acknowledged and became an official guild only a few months ago as well. To be able to make the top three is incredible indeed."

The uproar quieted down, but many people were still unhappy about it. The announcers then continued on to announce the top two. "In second place is... ooh, this will be interesting. In second place is the Fairy Tail B Team." Again, people in the stadium went in an uproar. The announcer gave another explanation. "In this event, each guild was allowed to send two teams max. To see that both of Fairy Tail's teams got into the top eight will give them a huge advantage. But it could also cause some in-guild problems."

For a second time, the uproar silenced, more people upset then before. The first Fairy Tail team made their protests to their master, but unwillingly went along with it. The announcers were now introducing the first place team, "In first place is Sabertooth! They've been the top guild in Fiore for the past seven years! They will most likely win again this year as well."

Now that all the guilds had been introduced, they started to mingle with each other. This was when both of the Fairy Tail teams more closely examined the members of the other teams. When they looked at the Wolf's Howl team, they were shocked to see Lucy with them. The two guilds were now conversing again. Steering in the same direction as the day before.

"Lucy! What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the stands?" Erza asked.

Grey agreed with the scarlet haired girl, "Yeah! You're to weak to be out here! You'll only get in the way!" Lucy could see that Grey still harbored feelings of hate towards her.

Lucy calmly responded, unfazed by the insult, "Grey, what about you? You're stripping fetish will get you hurt!" Lucy gave off a look of fake worry.

Grey snorted, "I know how to actually control myself."

Lucy laughed, as did the rest of the Wolf's Howl team, "Y-you really think that!" Once she had calmed down enough, she looked Grey in the eyes, the glanced down and back up, indicating for the ice mage to look down. When he did he went red in the face. He was completely nude. Everyone on the Wolf's Howl team started laughing again, Lucy and Isabella covering their eyes while doing so.

Grey quickly scooped up his clothes and put them on, to embarrassed to say anything. The two guilds went back to talking with each other. Styxx asked, "So what will you guys be performing?"

Everyone in the Fairy Tail guild, even the ones in the stands, had a confused look on their faces. Wendy spoke up first, "W-w-what do you mean perform?"

The Wolf's Howl members looked at each other, then looked back at Fairy Tail. Isabella spoke up for them, "Do you guys really not know?" The members of the other guild nodded, "Wow, you fairies are clueless. Well then here's a bit of useful information. Right after the preliminaries is a music contest."

Fairy Tail went up in a loud, "What!"

Isabella continued to explain, "I'll tell you the rules for it if you want." They nodded desperately. Isabella laid out the rules from memory, "Each team in the final eight will have to perform two songs, written by someone in the guild they represent."

Erza, curious for why they would add an event like that, asked, "Why would they have us do that, it has nothing to do with the strength of the guild or how powerful it is?"

Lucy then spoke up, explaining this part well, "The point is to show how well the guild can deal with different kinds of emergencies in a short amount of time. All the guilds participating in the tournament are told about this exactly one week before, giving a very small amount of time to allow for the song to be written. Also, by setting it at two songs, it tests how well the guild can hold out in the said different emergencies." Lucy finished her long explanation with out even taking a breath.

As the two teams on the field took in this new information, Laxus asked, "How long do we have until the contest?"

Lucy looked at Laxus, stared at him for a moment, then said, "I would say right about..." Lucy trailed off her sentence, one second later, the lights went off in the stadium, and flood lights were focused on the strange pumpkin man in the middle of the field.

He pointed up to three magic screens that appeared right above him. Each one faced one of the areas of the stands. On them were Lucy and Isabella. It showed them explaining the rules of the music contest and the meaning behind them.

Once the video finished, all the lights were turned back on and the pumpkin man began to speak. "As two of the members of Wolf's Howl just explained, this event is a music contest. Meant to test a guild's stamina and creativity with dealing with unthought of predicaments. From very small ones to very big ones. That is the purpose this event." The strange pumpkin man explained. Then, as if by an afterthought, the pumpkin man added, "You must also give a background on each song. Any background will be accepted, but one must be given anyways."

The lights went out again, and just like before, a light was centered on someone, only this time it was on two people. Lucy and Laxus. From the darkness, the pumpkin man said into his micro phone, "And, to answer Laxus's question, when does this contest begin?"

Lucy looked at Laxus again, and finished her reply, "Now."

The crowd cheered with excitement as a loud sound echoed throughout. When the lights turned on, a giant stage was revealed. The crowd cheered again and the pumpkin man started up again. "If everyone would please look to the screens, the order of the performances will be revealed.